RANDOM NOTES strike back: Allegiance Comics, The Tick reunion, a new Funko Thing figure and more!

Sometimes I have stuff to talk about that doesn't really warrant an entire post, but I want to talk about them anyway, so I put them all in a post called "random notes". Also, there's an X-Men character named "Random". I hate him.

And off we go!

I'm still lamenting the loss of the DC's 100-Page Giant Walmart-exclusive comics, so I was surprised to see a new comic book display for Allegiance Comics on a recent walk through the superstore. This one isn't in the checkout line, but with the books and magazines that are usually near the back of the store, and it's got a pretty prominent endcap display going for it.

I didn't purchase any of these, but one thing I did notice is that they all had big Walmart price stickers stuck on the front of each cover.

A little while ago, I posted about a virtual Tick reunion panel hosted by House Seats and featuring cast members from all three iterations of the Tick tv shows. It happened on November 15th and it was wonderful!

The whole thing lasted about 2.5 hours and had different cast members reading scripts from each version of the show, including an unproduced episode of the cartoon!

It was simply incredible to see all of these fine folks together in one virtual space. Between readings, each Tick and each Arthur had their own mini-session to talk about their roles. I had never seen David Burke in anything after his time in the 2001 show, so I especially enjoyed getting to hear from him.

"Crossover", a new comic from Image Comics by Donny Cates and Geof Shaw, came out last month. It features a lot of copyrighted superhero approximations, including re-colored thinly-veiled versions of Captain Marvel and Spider-Man. It also maybe has The Tick show up in one panel? It might just be a re-colored Ant/Giant Man. But this guy is blue, has what looks like antennae, and is causing property damage, so I prefer to think that it's the Big Blue Bug of Justice.

Gamestop released a frightening number of new, store exclusive Fantastic Four Funko Pops for Black Friday (eight in total, ugh) this year. Each new mystery box includes a Pop figure of an FF member with a Venom symbiote. Here's the Thing, and also, I guess, the Dr. Doom/Venom pin that came in the box. There's a metallic version of the figure as well.

Back in May, I posted about the copies of the personalized, mail-in X-Men and Captain Universe from 1994 that I have. I bought both of my copies from eBay, one of which was originally purchased by or for Josh Meinhausen, whose name appears over and over throughout the book.

Well, just a few days ago, Josh himself commented on the original post to tell me that this copy...had actually been stolen from him a long time ago! Yikes! That is not what I wanted to hear. It appears that my copy fell out of the back of a truck, so to speak. Josh, if you're reading this and would like to have a tear-filled reunion with your previous possession, let me know and I can try to make that happen. Or I can just send ransom notes with pictures of this book in peril.

I've been working on a few lettering projects recently. I made these weird balloons and I like them. Here, look at them, too!

So what else have I been doing? Well, I'm staking out potential press conference locations, and I stumbled upon this little-known gem in North Philly.

Also, someone please update my IMDb page to reflect my recent appearance in the Hulu-streaming "Happiest Season" movie. Hey there, K-Stew.

Corgi's 1:12 scale Thing statue (plus some relatively random updates)

I recently picked up another Thing statue, this one from the Corgi company. I had seen this around a few times, but it was never on my "must buy" list until I saw it for a great price.

This statue came out in 2006, when Marvel was starting to roll out its more generic branding with stock art. The side of the box is the Thing's chest, though, which is pretty cool.

Here's the front of the box, with an image of what's inside.

The statue itself it pretty heavy for its size. The base is made of metal and is quite hefty. I got #1453 out of a run of 2500.

And here's the back. The pants the Thing is wearing are similar to his appearances in the Ultimate Fantastic Four title, which debuted around this time. It's a nice, if not unremarkable statue. I'm glad that I finally grabbed it after looking at it online for years.

While we're here, why not have a quick Local Comic Shop Day recap? I spent a few hours at Pittsburgh Comics on the day of the event and signed a few books. Some people even got a (very rare) Sandwich Edition copy! Lucky ducks.

How did the day go? Well, here's a picture. What is Larry doing in the background? Nobody knows. (Check out Larry's new website here.)

Extra big Fantastic Four news: I walked out of the store on this day with a copy of Fantastic Four #11! (I paid for it.) This issue has the first appearance of the Impossible Man, and is now the earliest issue of the series that I own. The issue is in good shape and I'm thrilled to have it.

And lastly, artist Tony Sedani sent me this great Thing pinup a few days ago! Tony has drawn a few pages in recent issues of The Tick, and I was surprised to get this in the mail. What a cool piece! Into the collection it goes. Thanks, Tony!

The triumphant return of RANDOM NOTES!! Steel City Con, FUBAR, Kickstarter, Franks and Beans and more!

Selected short subjects:

- The latest of the installment of the Steel City Con was held at the beginning of April.  I'm continually surprised at how popular this show has become.  There are three shows a year and you'd think it'd suffer from fatigue by this point, but it seems to still be gaining steam.  It'll be interesting to see how it holds up after the Wizard World Pittsburgh show later in the year.

I was able to snag a few cool items from the show, including some Thing items and some comics.

All of these books were around 50 cents each, so I grabbed about 40 of them and spent way too much time looking through boxes...but there were some cool finds to be had, including Superboy #101 (in rough shape, but still), the last issue of Strange Tales vol. 2 (the only issue of the series that featured the Thing, a mainstay in the first volume) and the second issue of Simpsons Comics.

There was also a big Dukes of Hazzard presence at the show.  Larry wrote more about it on his blog, and you should check it out!

- I'm pretty sure this Thing magnet is homemade, but when I saw it at Pittsburgh Comics I had to grab it.  I can't quite place the artist, and it's driving me nuts.  Needless to say, I love it.

- The Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo came and went at the end of March, and it was better than I expected.  I managed to sell some books and buy a few that came home with me.  There was a lot of talent at this small show, which was encouraging.  I also met Don Simpson there, and we struck up a dialogue, at which point I learned that he...works at the same school that I do.  That is really bizarre.

Don is offering up a class for the fall semester in cartooning and character design.  This would be an awesome class to take.

- The second volume of Jennie Wood and Jeff McComsey's is currently up on Kickstarter and it's nearing its goal.  This is a great book and a the kind of comic the industry needs more of.  Check out the campaign and pledge if you can!

And speaking of Kickstarters...the UHF movie campaign is nearing its end with some work to be done.  It's finished on the evening of Sunday, April 26th, so if you haven't pledged yet...there are only a few more days to do so!

Some of the rewards for the campaign are making their way to me, including these 8-bit pins featuring characters from the movie.

- I'm currently catching up on some lettering work.  Whenever I letter, I use a page from IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic as a template.  I type in "that's turtle power!" every time I start a new project to make sure that my letters are the size they should be.  This continues to amuse me, so I'm sharing it.

Just what am I lettering?  Among other things, some FUBAR for the By the Sword collection, including this short story titled "The Leper King", written by Mark Bertolini with art by Chris McFann.

- And lastly, there's a newly released, really short episode of Franks and Beans to watch!  This episode was originally released as a Vine, hence the brief time limit.  There's also a loop of the video (100 times, over and over) in case you want to feel the cold grip of insanity.

Wow, these random notes are fun.  Look for them again whenever the hell I feel like writing them.  See you then!

FUBAR has enough going on that it requires its own section of RANDOM NOTES!

To me, I think that FUBAR represents the best of what independent comics (and comics in general) can accomplish: a lot of different, talented people from all over coming together to tell fun stories on a regular basis.  The formula is difficult to sustain; having a regular creative team on a book comes with its own challenges, but an anthology, with all of its moving parts, can easily get bogged down in a "too many cooks" situation.  For whatever reason, FUBAR has bucked that trend and is moving along at a faster pace than ever before, and there are some new developments that should propel the book and concept into 2014 and, hopefully, beyond.

The latest news has to start with the final tally for Jeff McComsey's outrageously successful Kickstarter campain, which will bring us all the anticipated "Mother Russia" original graphic novel and a few other projects.  As you can see from the image above, there were almost 1900 backers, nearly all of whom ordered at least the book itself.  In terms of independent comics, selling this many books right off the bat is a huge success, one that we're all looking to build on.

One of the projects springing from this campaign is FUBAR: Better Red than Dead, a short anthology that'll be written by McComsey and me.  It, of course, takes place during the Cold War period and features a knock-down cover by the great Pietro.  This book will ship out to all Kickstarter backers who pledged at least $25 to the campaign, and I believe it will be offered to comic shops and at conventions at a later date.

The book soon to be on shelves is our new Guts and Glory feature, with stories taking place in earlier times, as the Steve Becker cover suggests.  This book will also ship to Kickstarter backers, though it'll show up in comic shops first.  As a matter of fact, it's available to order right now, with a Diamond order code of OCT130801.  Similar in format to the two By the Sword issues, I've got a story in this issue title "I Am".

The FUBAR crew, including the pictured Becker, Dom Vivona and McComsey, made a scene at the recently concluded New York Comic-Con.  I had a chance to sit in on the booth on the Saturday of the show and it was a busy, fun time.  The comic news website Bleeding Cool ran an interview about FUBAR, and McComsey and I took the time to answer some questions about the book and the concept in general.  The interview can be read in its entirety here: http://live.bleedingcool.org/2013/10/12/848/

Lastly, Swedish artist Daniel Thollin posted this picture recently of a magazine interview he gave.  Thollin has worked on a number of FUBAR projects, including the "Old Ghosts" story story that I wrote for volume two of the series.  You can see the book in the extreme foreground of the publicity shot, which is fun to take note of.  I don't speak Swedish, but I'm assuming that the article headline outs Thollin as the Batman of Sweden, which, let's face it, I kind of already figuerd.

Another desktop-clearing session of RANDOM NOTES! Fantastic Four #48, the NFL's Thing, Futurama/Adventure Time and more!

It's time for more seemingly random, semi-comic book related notes that don't deserve their own post!  They may think they do, but they don't.  Don't feel bad for them.

- I made it out to an estate auction this weekend because I heard that there were some comics on the block.  When I die, I wonder if my possessions will be picked through by hungry crowds looking to get a good deal on a box of a dead guy's socks.  I guess I won't care at that point, but hey, maybe I'll inspire a nephew or crazed fan to keep all of my collection in tact.  Maybe I'll get a museum wing or something.

Anyway, I managed to get outbid on just about everything I wanted, but I did come home with about 20 or so comics, including this gem, for a great price.  This copy of Fantastic Four #48 is not in the best shape, but it's not a piece of crap either, and its covers contain one of the most famous stories of the entire silver age of comics.  It's the first appearance of Galactus, the Silver Surfer and the Watcher, and I'm happy to add it to my collection.  It's got a date stamp on the cover, which is unfortunately not uncommon for books of this era, but at least it doesn't have the damn guy's name scrawled across the top, as was the case with many of the other books I brought home.

- The Thing made a more modern appearance at the recent Steelers/Bengals tilt, captured here via the magic of...a camera phone.  Everyone knows, of course, that the Thing is actually a Jets fan, and that no one is a Bengals fan, but you do what you can in Cincinnati.  I especially enjoy the girl in the bottom left corner, who, as a Steeler fan attending a losing effort, is apparently puking all over Bengals fans.  Good job, lady.  The great Steeler comeback is underway.

- I did some dressing up of my own recently.  Years ago, I had vowed that if the Pirates ever made the playoffs again, I would attend a game dressed as a gorilla dressed as a pirate.  That time was the 2013 season, so I had to oblige the fates.  I'm seen here with Wolverine, I think.

- Futurama's last episode has aired on Comedy Central, and the show is once again on hiatus until it the inevitable resurrection.  I refuse to believe that it is gone for good - hopefully 2014's Simpsons/Futurama crossover episode paves the way for new episodes in 2015.  I have hope!  The most recent season had lots of highlights, but one of my favorites came in the form of a well-placed Adventure Time cameo, precipitated by the fact that both Bender and Jake are voiced by John DiMaggio.



- DC Comics has released a short animated video celebrating the 75 years of Superman.  It's got some real inspiring moments and, overall, it hits on a lot of the memorable points in Superman's history.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's well worth the two minutes it takes to watch!  That being said, the video probably focuses a little too much on the last 20 years, and it leaves out some fairly important parts, namely Crisis and the Byrne '80s relaunch, as well as, oh yeah, CLARK KENT'S MARRIAGE TO LOIS LANE.  As much as DC is trying to sweep all relationships under the rug these days, that's still a huge part of the history of Superman.

- A British geneticist might just have solved the mystery of the yeti, revealing the existence of a "hybrid" bear with polar bear and grizzly bear DNA.  It's a fascinating idea and it might explain all of those abominable snowman sightings.  Read about it here: http://www.dvice.com/2013-10-17/myth-yeti-may-have-just-been-solved

- I recently lettered a short sci-fi story titled "Diver Down" for fellow FUBAR contributors Mark Bertolini and Carl Yonder!  I have absolutely no idea what the plans are for the story, but it was fun to work on.

- Aaaaand finally, the always helpful SDCC blog has a post that compares Comic-Con International to the recent New York Comic-Con.  Both shows are fun but nothing compares to the big boy in San Diego, in my opinion.  Read the article and decide for yourself!

http://sdccblog.com/2013/10/how-does-new-york-comic-con-stack-up-against-sdcc/

Man, this session of Random Notes was a lot of fun.  I think I'll write another one, just for FUBAR, soon.  Although it might have to be titled "Specific Notes", then.  We'll see.

Random updates

...get it? The image is of the character "Random" from X-Force...or X-Factor...one of those X-Men spinoff teams. Whatever. Anyway, a few updates to pass along, none big enough to warrant a long rant:

- I've updated this blog site just a bit by adding a few widgets to the side bar over on the right. Now you can search all posts (just like you've always wanted!), and wander through the maze that is the largest, most incomprehensible tag cloud with all the many, many labels I've used in the past.

You want to know how many times I've used "The Thing" as a tag? Four! (well, now it's five.) How about "Pittsburgh"? Take a peek on the right...and you just might find out! I've even tagged Sarah Palin once, for who knows what reason.

- Todd Nauck has agreed to do an interview for Teddy and the Yeti issue #2. As you'll recall (YOU WILL!), Todd drew the Mr. Massive cover to the same issue. Phil Hester was kind enough to do the same for issue #1 - a cover and an interview. I wasn't sure if I could get a hold of Todd, but I was able to a few days ago.

- They're having a ridiculous sale over at Toyrocket.com, the place I preorder most of my Futurama toys from. I'm not sure how long the sale - 50-90% off their entire stock - will last, but I moved on it as soon as I got the e-mail: among a few other things, I got the Marvel Legends 1st Appearance Thing figure for five bucks!

- I got an e-mail from Pat Olliffe on Thursday saying that his Teddy and the Yeti cover is done. He both penciled and inked it, and I'll be getting it in the mail in a few days. This is theoretically the cover to issue #4, though Duane and I may take some time off after #3...so we'll see what eventually happens.

- Teddy and the Yeti #1 is officially on its way from Brenner Printing to my house. I should get all 2,000 issues by Tuesday, at which time I'll have to figure out where to put them between now and when I ship the orders off to Diamond's various warehouses.

- Teddy and the Yeti #1 is currently number 40 on Exclamation Comics' top 100 best selling comic books of the day, outranking Dark Reign: Hawkeye #5, Haunt #1 and Deadpool Team-Up #899. I have no idea what this means in any real context.

- Artist Nick Acs has a new blog with art from a backup story that will be featured in a future issue of Teddy and the Yeti. It was posted on October 25th, and as of now it's very much the only post on the site. Which is awesome.

That's all I've got! And a great time was had by all.